Flipping Out

by Marshall Karp

Book Overview

Nora Bannister is a bestselling mystery novelist who buys run-down houses in LA. While her business partners turn?the house into a showpiece, Nora makes it the scene of a grisly murder in her House To Die For series. As soon as the new book goes on sale, so does the house - and the bidding frenzy begins.? It seems a lot of people are willing to pay a lot of money to live in a real house where a fictional character has died a violent death. Just before...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312378211
• ISBN13: 9780312378219
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A good mystery with lots of humor...

I really liked the book although I thought there might be a new series coming featuring the wives flipping houses and solving murders themselves. That sounded like a really neat idea, but I guess not since most were murdered. It starts out with some cop friends of Lomax and Biggs on a boat playing cards. That is the last time these friends really get together because after that it is murder after murder. A lot of these cops wives are in the house flipping business with a famous mystery novelist. The novelist has a series of novels called "A House to Die For" where a fictional murder takes place. The house is on the cover of each book which makes people really want that house. Unfortunately a real murder occurs there, then another one and another one. Of course this raises the value of the house but the clues are so spotty that Lomax and Biggs are having a heck of a time solving the cases. Are all these cops wives murdered because of the business they are in? because someone has a grudge against the crime writer? or has someone the cops arrested at some point doing them in? Lomax and Biggs are kept busy trying to figure it out before the last flipper is killed. There is a lot of humor in the story and it's an easy read. The ending was a total surprise so I'm stopping here before I give anything away. This really isn't a police procedural in my opinion but more of a cozy mystery. Lomax and Biggs are really likeable and a lot of scenes take place at home or outside of work instead of in the police station.

Good laughs, warm characters, intriguing situation

I love a funny mystery, but, based on the evidence of the many I have reluctantly cast on the "To be sold" pile, it is not that easy to do it right. Marshall Karp has done it right. Flipping Out is a police procedural featuring an LAPD detective duo, Mike Lomax & Terry Briggs, narrated in the first person by Lomax. If you have a job that requires you to see the worst side of humanity, it probably helps to have the kind of wry, highly developed sense of humor that Mike and his colleagues show on every page. This is where Karp avoids the first pitfall that often dooms humorous mysteries for me. The humor is broad, with many sexual or scatological references. Prudes will not enjoy this book. But the jokes, in my opinion, stay on the fine edge of good taste and never cross over into the vulgar, sophomoric, or mean. They laugh at human foibles but do it in a warm way that softens the edginess of the barb. Which leads me to the second pitfall that Karp avoids. Too often, characters in humorous mysteries are low-lifes or dysfunctional individuals who are unbelievable or, at best, unlikeable. Karps' cops seem like real people doing a tough job but not losing their humanity, with wives they love and kids who exasperate them. Lomax's relationship with his father makes me want to grab them both and beat their heads together, just as I would want to do with friends in real life. I could imagine these folks living next door (although, given the track record for murders in the vicinity of Lomax & Briggs, I would rather they didn't!). My impression is that Karp's characters are a little "softer" than those created by many of the authors with whom he is compared in the blurbs I have read. OK, so the author has made me laugh and created some characters I can relate to. Can he tell a good story? Karp's quirky situation fits the tone of the book perfectly. A well-known mystery writer goes into business with some other women (who happen to be married to LAPD cops) buying run-down houses, fixing them, up, and selling them at a profit. The twist is that she features the houses in her books as the scene of the murder, which makes the price of the house skyrocket. You can imagine what happens next.... Is the book a "perfect" mystery? No, if there is a flaw, I'd say the solution to the crime comes just a little out of left field, but it is not incredible and did not leave me feeling completely cheated. It is a delightful book. Enjoy the performance; just do not expect a grand finale.

www.booksandchat says - I Flipped over this Fantastic Find!

Flipping Out by Marshall Karp I have to say that this book just flat out really did it for me. I have found a new obsession in Mr. Karps writing! I love mysteries, and this is a police procedural too...then to add the cherry onto the cake it is also laugh out loud funny. Mr. Karp better be sitting in front of his word processor right this minute cranking out the next book in this series that's all I have to say. I read this the third in the series first and as soon as I was done, I immediately went back and ordered the first two on this series - The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty. There really is no need to read the first books in order since each can stand on it's own quite nicely, but it may help clarify some minor points and "in" jokes.. Okay now down to the nitty gritty - this series stars two of LAPD's finest Detectives Mike Lomax, Terry Biggs (an aspiring stand up comic) and a whole slew of other equally hilarious secondary characters, including Mike`s teamster father who loves to be a butinski, Mikes lady friend Diana and Terry`s wife Marilyn. The first murder that happens, just happens to be another detective's wife and then there is a second murder of a cop's wife and then... well you get the idea! What do these murders have in common besides they are all cops wives? Well this group of women just all happen to belong to a club that flips houses for profit and this group includes Terry`s wife Marilyn. This club is headed by famed mystery writer Nora Bannister who is writing a series of mystery books called The House to Die For Series. Each house in her series is an actual house newly renovated by the partners and as soon as the newest house in the series is ready to go on the market the wives start dying. If you think you will be able to figure out who-dun-it quickly and neatly you have a big surprise coming to you. I thought I had it all wrapped up neatly too, but Mr. Karp manages to throw in one heck of a curve ball at the end. Add to this some additional mayhem of Mike and Diana buying and renovating an older home and the humor never stops. PS: I just finished the The Rabbit Factory and Bloodthirsty and I highly recommend them also.

It appears that I've been missing out on a great series...

I loved this book. Lomax & Biggs gave me so many laughs & I loved the mystery & storyline. Excellent writing. It makes it nearly impossible to put down. Evidently I've been missing out on some really great books because this is the 3rd Lomax & Biggs mystery. I will certainly go back & read The Rabbit Factory & Bloodythirsty because I'm sure that they were just as incredible as this one. Although I hadn't read the other 2 I didn't feel left out while reading this one. I highly recommend this book. You'll fall in love with these people & be begging for more.

Just what you wanted: an escapist, light-hearted mystery

There's a time and place for serious, cerebral reading, the kind of novel that makes you think deeply about the ethical choices every character made-- This isn't that book. Instead, Flipping Out is the sort of novel you turn to after it's been a hard week at the office, when you want a story that holds your interest for a few hours, makes you laugh, and -- hey, isn't that enough? Flipping Out is absolutely the right accompaniment to a big bag of potato chips, because you'll find it as hard to put down the book as it is to "eat just one chip." The story doesn't sound all that lighthearted. It's a police procedural, which means a detective team at the LAPD who's called upon to solve a homicide. Is the murder because the victim is a police-buddy's wife, or because she's partner in a real estate deal spearheaded by acclaimed mystery novelist Nora Bannister? Nora has discovered a unique way to improve a property's value: set a mystery novel in the renovated house, then sell it to a fan who wants to live at a "famous address." (It does sound cool, doesn't it?) But everyone LIKED the victim; no one had a reason to kill her. The two heroes, Biggs and Lomax, spend most of the book trying to figure things out, and I had no idea what the answer was until the author revealed it. But even if I had guessed (and I sure wasn't close), I wouldn't have minded. What makes this book so much fun is the dialog. Imagine a mystery novel written by Joss Whedon. It's clever, it's funny, and it's fast paced: "That's not a girl thing. It's called fear," [Biggs says as he tries to reassure his girlfriend.] "Even manly-man cops get it. Can I give you three words of advice?" "Carry a gun?" [she replies] "Let it go." "That's easy for you to say. You have a gun." Flipping Out is a great weekend read. Grab your sunglasses, put your feet up on the porch swing, pour a beer, and have a wonderful time.